I just now realized I might be playing the wrong type of games. Let me explain.

I am 32. I have 2 kids, boys, aged 19 months and 4 years. I have run the gamut from Nintendo games and FPS like Doom when I was young to RTS, MMORPG, Open World Sandbox games and everything in between. I used to have time to play them. I loved getting lost in Baldur's Gate, or being an OP dark sith lord in Knights of the Old Republic.

Fast forward to today. The only games I really play are Hearthstone (Magic the Gathering is too expensive and the online client sucks), Diablo 3 and Fallout 4. Previous to these I liked Skyrim, Mass Effect 1 2 and 3, GTA 4, and Battlefield 3.

I have come to enjoy Diablo and Fallout less and less each time I play them. I find I don't have enough time to grind Diablo to push the high grifts my friends are doing. I like Fallout 4 still, but I can't get into it in the short hour I can find to play when the kids are in bed and my wife is doing her facebook stuff. It just isn't enough time to immerse in the world and truly appreciate everything. I haven't even installed a mod yet!

Now to the realization, aside from Hearthstone, which I can hop in and out of quickly, play a few fun games or whatever whenever I can find time, I think I am playing the wrong type of games.

Rather than look for that next epic 200-300 Witcher 3 type game, maybe I should be looking at quick stories with good gameplay. Or Puzzles? Or quick strategy games? Something that I can play in 20-30 minutes and have a good time. Not boot up and play inventory management to respec my Wizard, or try to rush clear building and worry about missing the bobblehead in the process.

I have 3 venues to play games which I will run down briefly.

My phone:
I hate free to play/freemium/microtransactions. This is funny because I llike Hearthstone. I think the difference here is that I have played it since beta, have all the cards I could ever need and all the gold I need. I haven't paid money for it nor do I feel like I need to, nor do I feel like it is pay to win, even though it is, through time or money.
Beyond this I sometimes play Worms but that's about it for my phone.

My laptop:
Old Dell XPS 15 with an Nvidia GT420M. It now runs Linux Mint. It can play Hearthstone and Diablo 3 in wine. I also like it for Civ 5, but time constraints make that a difficult game to play.

My Desktop:
Dual boot, runs Linux Mint 95% of the time. Only boots into Windows 7 with zero updates and all Windows 10 features blocked for Fallout 4.

The other consideration is that money is tight. My wife is supply teaching and not getting a ton of work so we are living mostly on my job, which is average pay.

Does anyone else feel the same? Have you folks shifted your gaming habits over the years? What types of games do you find time for?
Do you still enjoy the massive sprawling games on limited time, or do you like shorter games?

Is there anything in particular keeping you from trying a game like GTA 5? it has all the social interaction but very little time commitment. I can play for 30 minutes, have some good laughs, and be off.